QUESTION WORDS
WHO
WHERE
WHO is only used when referring to people. (= I
want to know the person)
WHERE is used when referring to a place or
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Who is the best football player in the world?
Who are your best friends?
Who is that strange guy over there?
location. (= I want to know the place)
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Where is the library?
Where do you live?
Where are my shoes?
WHEN
WHAT
WHEN is used to refer to a time or an occasion. (= I
WHAT is used to refer to specific information. (= I
want to know the time)
want to know the thing)
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When do the shops close?
When is your birthday?
When are we going to finish?
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What is your name?
What is her favorite color?
What is the time?
WHY
HOW
WHY is used to obtain an explanation or a reason.
HOW is used to describe the manner that
(= I want to know the reason)
something is done. (= I want to know the way)
 Why do we need a nanny?
 Why are they always late?
 Why does he complain all the time?
Normally the response begins with "Because..."
 How do you cook paella?
 How does he know the answer?
 How can I learn English quickly?
With HOW there are a number of other expressions
WHICH
that are used in questions:
WHICH is used when a choice needs to be made.
How much – refers to a quantity or a price
(= I want to know the thing between alternatives)
(uncountable nouns)
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Which drink did you order – the rum or the
beer?
Which day do you prefer for a meeting –
today or tomorrow?
Which is better - this one or that one?
How much time do you have to finish the test?
How much is the jacket on display in the
window?
 How much money will I need?
How many – refers to a quantity (countable nouns)


 How many days are there in April?
 How many people live in this city?
 How many brothers and sister do you have?
How often – refers to frequency
 How often do you visit your grandmother?
 How often does she study?
 How often are you sick?
How far – refers to distance


How far is the university from your house?
How far is the restaurant from here?
WORD ORDER IN QUESTIONS
In previous lessons we learned that there are two types of questions:
a) Yes/ No Questions
b) Information Questions
a) Yes / No Questions
These questions have the following pattern:
With verb “to be”
*Remember: the verb “to be” has a different structure than the rest of the verbs.
With other verbs:
*Remember: To form questions with other verbs we need to use auxiliaries.
b) Information Questions:
With verb “to be”
With other verbs:
The Wh- means that you can add one or more words to ask for specific information. It doesn’t have to be only
one question word. Look at the following charts:
SOURCE.
Question Words Chart: http://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Question_Words.htm
Word Order Chart: American English File 1. Second Edition. OUP.